Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about reforms to the private rented sector.

I believe insecurity of renting is one of the main problems with the current housing market where tenants are afraid to report problems and are forced to move at short notice. I have long supported calls for more rights and better protections for renters, including an end to Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

The Queen’s Speech on 10 May 2022 included proposals for a Renters’ Reform Bill and set out the main policies that are expected to be part of it. It includes plans to abolish ‘no fault’ evictions, apply the legally binding Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, and introduce a new Ombudsman for private landlords so disputes can be resolved without going to court.

I welcome many of these proposals, but I am concerned that Ministers have been too slow to act. The Government committed to introducing renters’ reforms in the 2019 and 2021 Queen’s Speeches, and its pledge to abolish ‘no fault’ evictions dates back to April 2019. According to the homelessness charity Shelter, a ‘no fault’ eviction notice has been served every seven minutes since then.

When Section 21 evictions are finally scrapped, there is a risk of punitive rent rises, yet I am worried there are no proposals in the Bill to protect tenants against this.

More widely, I have serious concerns that Government proposals do little to help private renters who cannot afford to buy their own home and do not qualify for social rented housing. I urge Ministers to consider reforms that would deliver the right quantity of new housing in the right places, at prices that local people can afford. A good, safe and genuinely affordable home should be a basic human right in my view.

The Government has said it will publish its White Paper on Renters’ Reform for consultation this spring and it has committed to exploring the merits of a national register of landlords. While I appreciate that proposals for reform need to be considered and properly scrutinised, tenants need protections now. I urge Ministers to avoid delay and accelerate work on the Renters' Reform Bill.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP